Winter warmers: Three hot cocktail recipes to make at home this weekend 

Created by master mixologist Oisín Davis, these three warming elixirs can be whipped up in your kitchen using Irish spirits, spices and a dash of boiling water. Sláinte!

Three warm and welcoming sips from Irish Kitchen Cocktails

Gin Hot Toddy

The spice in gin comes to life when served in a heated drink. I know that sounds a bit barmy, especially when you normally just swill back your gin with tonic in an icy glass. But when you look at the botanicals that go into most gins, it makes a little m

Servings

5

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 15 mins

Course

 Input

Ingredients

• 2 lemons

• 250ml orange juice (not concentrated – get the auld Tropicana or squeeze your own)

• 3 tbsp runny Irish honey

• 6 cloves

• 3 green cardamom pods

• 3 juniper berries

• 2 cinnamon sticks, plus 5 more to garnish

• 500ml boiling water

• 5 x 50ml serves of Cork Dry Gin

Method

1. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peels from the lemons, then squeeze the juice. Drop the peels into a saucepan along with the lemon and orange juice, honey and spices. Pour in the boiling water and put the pot on a medium heat. Stir it all up for a few minutes and keep it on a medium heat for 15 minutes.

2. For each serve, pour 50ml of gin into a glass mug. Top it up with about 150ml of the orange juice mix, using a tea strainer to keep any solids out of the cup as you pour it in. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Hot Buttered Irish Rum

If you’ve never experienced the sheer delight of a hot buttered rum, I’m quite envious of you. It’s such a beautiful sensation when the spicy butter envelops the rum and the brown sugar tempers it all. You never forget your first hot buttered Irish rum.

Course

 Input

Ingredients

• 1 heaped tsp unsalted butter, softened

• 1 tsp brown sugar

• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

• ¼ tsp ground ginger

• ¼ tsp allspice

• 2 drops of vanilla essence

• 40ml Black’s Golden Rum

• boiling water

Method

1. Put the butter, sugar, spices and vanilla in a glass mug and stir to combine. Add the rum and mix again before topping up the mug with boiling water and carefully stirring.

2. If you’re lashing out a load of these you can multiply the number required by how many serves you’re making, but slightly change the order of service. For instance, for 10 serves, multiply everything by 10 (except the rum) and mix it all up in a bowl. Then for each serve, put a tablespoon of the butter mixture into a glass mug, then hit it up with the rum and boiling water as per the method above.